iconography

 

(ī'kŏnŏg'rəfē) [Gr.,=image-drawing] or iconology [Gr.,=image-study], in art history, the study and interpretation of figural representations, either individual or symbolic, religious or secular; more broadly, the art of representation by pictures or images, which may or may not have a symbolic as well as an apparent or superficial meaning.

The Meaning and Significance of Iconography

When first used in the 18th cent. the term was confined to the study of engravings, which were then the standard mode of illustrating books on art and on antiquities in general. But it came shortly to be applied more specifically to the history and classification of Christian images and symbols of all sorts, in whatever medium they happened to be rendered originally or in whatever way they were reproduced for study.

With the rise of the systematic investigation of art from prehistoric ages to modern times, it became apparent that each major phase or epoch in which figural representations occur had created and developed in varying degrees of richness and elaboration an iconography of its own. As used today, therefore, the term is necessarily qualified to indicate the field of iconographic study under discussion—e.g., the iconography of the various Egyptian deities, the iconography of Roman imperial portraits, early Christian iconography, Buddhist or Hindu iconography, Byzantine iconography, Gothic iconography.

As a method of scholarly research the science of iconography strives also to recover and express the thought from which a given convention of representation has arisen, particularly when the convention has assumed the value of a symbol. The importance of identifying motifs is central to iconographical interpretation. For example, St. Catherine of Alexandria is traditionally portrayed in the presence of a wheel. This wheel is a familiar attribute that serves to identify her and that at the same time signifies a miracle connected with her martyrdom. Some attributes are more difficult to understand, and their obscurity has led scholars to consult other images or literary sources in order to interpret the motif more satisfactorily.

Certain themes characteristic of a specific philosophy have been commonly represented during an era, and an iconography has been developed to express them. An example is the still life vanitas vanitatum of the Middle Ages, a reminder of the transitory quality of earthly pleasure symbolized by a skull, candle, and hourglass (or, in later versions, a watch). In every living art the conventions and symbols, as well as their meanings, change with the passage of time and the growth of ideas; many disappear, while others become almost unintelligible to a later generation and can be recovered only by intensive study. Among the foremost scholars in iconographic studies are Didron, Émile Mâle, Aby Warburg, and Erwin Panofsky.

Christian Iconography

By reason of its long history and the dynamic concepts that controlled it, the growth of Christian iconography is rich and varied. Beginning with the catacomb frescoes in the early centuries of the Christian era, it deals with the perils faced by the human soul on earth in its journey toward eternal salvation. Figures from the Old Testament (e.g., Abraham, Judith and Holofernes), episodes from the life and passion of Jesus (e.g., the Nativity, the Descent from the Cross, the Pietà), scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary (e.g., the Sacred Conversation, the Visitation), scenes from the lives of the saints (e.g., St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata, St. Jerome in the Wilderness, the Martyrdom of St. Agatha), and symbolic scenes of ultimate beatitude (e.g., the Majesty, the Savior of the World, the Coronation of the Virgin), all reveal the same purpose—to repeat in many forms and inculcate in every mind the moral aims and fundamental dogmas of the Christian religion.

A long series of evolutionary stages unfolds in the representation of a given person or scene from the art of the catacombs to that of the Gothic cathedrals. Thus the art of the Middle Ages is above all a kind of sacred writing whose system of characters, i.e., the iconography, had to be learned by every artist. It was governed also by a kind of sacred mathematics, in which position, grouping, symmetry, and number were of extraordinary importance and were themselves an integral part of the iconography.

From earliest times Christian iconography has likewise been a symbolic code, showing the faithful one thing and inviting them to see in it the figure of another. Some examples are: the dove, which figures the Holy Spirit; the fish, symbol of Christ, from the Greek icthus, an anagram for Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior; the monkey or reptile as symbol of evil; and the bowl or pitcher of water and the vase of lilies that signify the Virgin's purity in the Annunciation scene. In Christian art, form is thus the vehicle of spiritual meaning; in the expression and reading of this meaning lies the essence of Christian iconography.

Bibliography

See E. Panofsky, Studies in Iconology (1939, repr. 1962); G. Ferguson, Signs and Symbols in Christian Art (2d ed. 1955); A. N. Didron, Christian Iconography (2 vol., tr. 1851–86, repr. 1965); G. Schiller, Iconography of Christian Art (tr. 1971).

Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", or painting, and comes from the Greek εικον (image) and γραφειν (to write). A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the Byzantine and Orthodox Christian tradition. A third meaning lies in the field of semiotics, see below.

Iconography in religious art

Icons are used by many different religions, including both Dharmic and Abrahamic faiths.

Icons in Judaism

It is commonly thought that the Jews absolutely prohibit "graven images"; this, however, is not entirely true. There are numerous instances within the scriptures that describe the creation and use of images for religious purposes (the angels on the Ark of the Covenant, the bronze snake Moses mounted on a pole, etc). What is important to note is that none of these are worshipped as God. Since God is incorporeal and has no form, He cannot be depicted. During the Late Antique period of Jewish history it is clear that restrictions on representation were relaxed considerably; for example, the synagogue at Dura Europas had large figurative wall paintings. It is also clear there was a tradition of painted scrolls, of which the Joshua Roll and the Utrecht Psalter are medieval Christian copies, none of the originals having survived. There are also many medieval illuminated manuscripts, especially of the Haggadah of Pesach (Passover). There does not seem to have been a Jewish tradition of icons as panel paintings, however.

Icons in Christianity

Christianity was born of the idea that the immaterial God took flesh in the form of Jesus Christ, making it possible to depict in human form the Son of God. It is for this reason that the Early Christians overturned the old proscriptions against images. Also, the concept of archetype was redefined by the Early Church fathers in order to better understand that when someone shows veneration toward an image, the intention is rather to honor the person depicted, not the substance of the icon.

Icons flourished within the Christian world, but by the 6th century, certain factions arose within the Church to challenge the use of icons, and in 726-30 they won Imperial support. The Iconoclasts actively destroyed icons in most public places, replacing them with the only religious depiction allowed, the cross. The Iconodules, on the other hand, argued that icons had always been used by Christians and should continue to be allowed. Finally, after much debate at the 7th ecumenical council, held in Nicaea in 787, the Iconodules, supported by the Empress, upheld the use of icons as an integral part of Christian tradition.

Eastern Christianity

Main article: Icon

In the traditions of Eastern Christianity, only flat images or bas relief images are used. They believe the first icons of Christ and the Virgin Mary to have been painted by St. Luke. Because the Greeks rejected statuary, the Byzantine icon style was developed in which figures were stylized in a manner that emphasized their holiness rather than their humanity. Symbolism allowed the icon to present highly complex material in a very simple way, making it possible to educate even the illiterate in theology. The interiors of Orthodox Churches are often completely covered in icons of Christ, Mary and the saints. Most are portrait figures in various conventional poses, but many narrative scenes are also depicted. Today, icons are still used extensively by the Eastern Orthodox and the Eastern Catholics. Icons are kissed, carried in procession, and venerated.

Western Christianity

Until the 13th century, icons followed a broadly similar pattern in West and East, although very few such early examples survive from either tradition. Western icons, which are not usually so termed, were largely patterned on Byzantine works, and equally conventional in composition and depiction. From this point on the Western tradition came slowly to allow the artist far more flexibility, and a more realistic approach to the figures.

In the 15th century the use of icons in the West was enormously increased by the introduction of prints on paper, mostly woodcuts which were produced in vast numbers. With the Reformation, after an initial uncertainty among early Lutherans, Protestants came down firmly against icon-like portraits, especially larger ones, even of Christ. Many Protestants found these idolatrous. Catholics maintained and even intensified the traditional use of icons, both printed and on paper, using the different styles of the Renaissance and Baroque. Popular Catholic imagery to a certain extent has remained attached to a Baroque style of about 1650, especially in Italy and Spain.

Islamic view of icons

See also: Islamic art

Muslims view sanctified icons as idols, and strictly forbid their worship, nor do they pray in front of one. However, the various divisions of Islam take different positions on the role of visual depictions of living (or once-living) creatures, including people. At one end of the spectrum, sects such as the Wahhabis totally ban drawings and photography. Some branches of Islam forbid only the former but allow the latter. The majority of Sunni Muslims permit both. Some Shia allow even the depiction of the Prophet Muhammad and the twelve Imams, a position totally unacceptable to most Sunnis.

Icons in Hinduism

Main article: Hindu iconography

Images of Hindu gods and goddesses use a rich symbolism. Some figures are blue-skinned (the color of heaven) or have multiple arms holding various symbols which depict aspects of the god.

Iconography in other academic research

In other academic disciplines such as Semiotics, Anthropology, Sociology, Media Studies and Cultural Studies, iconography refers the study of images or signs, such as those images that have an important significance to a particular culture or time. Discussing imagery as iconography in this way implies a critical "reading" of imagery that often attempts to explore social and cultural values. Iconography is also used within film studies to describe the visual language of cinema, particularly within the field of genre criticism.^[1]

Iconography in Dharmic Religions

• Iconography of the Buddha (Thailand and Laos)
• Buddhist art
• Greco-Buddhist art
• Korean Buddhist sculpture
• Mudra
• Ashtamangala

Dharmic Religious iconography and hagiography includes aureola, halo and divine qualities and attributes represented by mudra, asana and ritual tools such as the dharmachakra, vajra, dadar, phurba, sauwastika, symbolic use of color to denote the Classical Elements or Mahabhuta and letters and bija syllables from sacred alphabetic scripts. In some Dharmic Traditions this signification is known as the Twilight Language.

See also

• Art history
• Anthropology of religion
• Semiotics
• Sociology of religion
• Symbolic anthropology
• Symbology
• Symbolism
• Theological aesthetics
• Unusual depiction of a religious figure
• Specific religions:
  • Islamic art
  • Christian art
    • Christian icons
    • Early Christian art
    • Holy card
    • Images of Jesus
    • Saint symbology

Works cited

• Cook, Pam and Mieke Bernink, eds. 1999. The Cinema Book. 2nd ed. London: BFI Publishing. ISBN 0851707262.

Notes

External links

• Iconography in the dictionary of The History of Ideas
• What iconographers do - case study
• Iconography of Deities and Demons in the Ancient Near East (Project of the Swiss National Science Foundation at the Universities of Zurich and Fribourg
• Web site for European Sacred Mountains, Calvaries and Devotional Complexes

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